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A Bengali Cultural Dinner Extravaganza - ABCDE

Prawn Polao - traditional Indian recipe

These recipes can make a perfect feast. The prawn polao with creamy
lentil sauce, steamed lemon bekti, nutty stuffed parwal and mango raita. These
easy dinner recipes will help you to spread a traditional Indian platter
on the table for any occasion.

Published by Barnali Dutta

May 1, 2014,

Cultural dinner - A virtual treat

Even simple rice can be transformed into a dish fit for a King's palate by
once culinary skills, polao or pilaf is an example of it.

To make polao one has to buy old and fine long grain rice (basmati rice or chamarmani
rice) while making the polao one has to be careful so that the rice does not get
over boiled and freed from moisture. To attain the maximum moisture free texture
of the polao there are some tricks.

* One hour prior to cooking one has to prepare the rice synchronously along
with the preparations for the rest of the cooking course. One has to wash
briefly and soak the rice for 30 minutes then stain the water, spread the soaked
rice in a wide platter and leave it to dry on open air for another 15 minutes.
Lastly, to get perfect texture of the rice mix some ghee [clarified butter] or
vegetable oil with the rice now, but very carefully since the rice should be
fragile by now and can get broken easily. The oil or ghee will keep the rice
separate during cooking polao.

** The mouth of the utensil in which the polao to be cooked should be wide so
that its inside can be seen clearly and stir easily.

*** Last, but not the least the secret of the mouth-watering and inviting
aroma of the polao is the perfect blend of minimum spices. Traditionally it is
used to be added in three steps: while making spice infused ghee and mixing that
ghee with the set to dry soaked rice, while cooking final polao.

**** If the recipe demands do not strain the starch after cooking the
previously flavored rice, in general the proportion of boiling water for the
cooking perfect rice should be 1:2 means 1 cup rice and 2 cup boiling water, but
for the long-grain basmati rice the proportion should be 1 cup rice with 1 and
1/2 cup boiling water.

Since during soaking rice it will drink approx 1/4 cup water and for this
recipe one has to add 1/4 cup milk, the measurement of the boiling water for the
cooking rice should be 1 cup only. The amount of water will also be
depended on added vegetable or meat or egg or fish quantities to the rice for
making polao and to cook them well. I have added prawn for this recipe and to
cook prawn I do not need to add more water to cook unlike the other polao
dishes. I seasoned the prawns well, fried a little to keep it soft and steamed
with rice, that's it.

Let's cook4.0 stars based on
51 reviews

Ingredients : Serves 2

1. Long grain basmati rice (old rice is preferable), 1 cup

2. Jumbo prawn, 250g.

3. Salt and turmeric for seasoning , 1 teaspoon.

4. Hot boiled water , 1 cup.

5. Lukewarm skimmed milk , 1/4 cup

6. Saffron, 1 pinch, toasted and powdered.

7. Clarified butter , 4 teaspoon. [or vegetable oil of your choice]

7. Curry leaves , 1 swirl

8. Thinly sliced red onion , 50g

9. Ginger paste , 1 teaspoon

10. Silted green chili , 2

11. Star anise , 1

12. Cashew nuts , 1 tablespoon

13. Vegetable oil , 3 teaspoon.

14. Salt and granulated sugar to taste.

Spices

1. Bengali garam masala, whole spices

2. Cinnamon or dalchini 1 inch, 1

3. Clove or lavang, 2 to 3

4. Cardamom or green elaichi,2 to 2

5. Bay leaves, 1

6. Black peppercorn,1 teaspoon

7. Whole dried red chili, 1

Directions:

1. Wash, clean and soak the rice in water for half an hour, keep aside.

2. After half an hour drain the soaked rice, scatter the rice on a platter to
dry in open air for another 15 minutes.

3. In the meantime clean prawn, wash with salted lukewarm water, season with
salt and turmeric, keep aside.

4. Take a pan, toast one pinch saffron on low fire, powder it with your
finger and add to the lukewarm milk, keep aside.

8. After it starts boiling turn into simmer. If you can, add some
boiling water carefully on the pan-lid, it will make the moisture from the top
also.

9. It will take approximately 10 minutes to soak all the water and make
the best flavored polao rice you ever had. Open the lid carefully, add
rest of the infused oil or clarified butter, stir gently and turn the heat off.
Give a standing time for not more than 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Serving options

* I did set the hot cooked polao rice in a panna cotta ring mold for 5 minutes.
First I took the
prawns from the rice and aligned by the side of the ring and then covered the
empty area with cooked polao rice. It was so tempting in all the ways like
eyes, nose as well as our tastes buds.

** Polao can be served with any semi-gravy preparation and raita for a full
course meal.

Mango Raita recipe

Mango raita

Take one cup unripe mango chunks in a bowl, add water and place it
on fire to boil until the mango become slightly soft. Drain the water and keep aside to cool completely.

Take half cup hung yogurt in a bowl, add chat masala about 2 teaspoon, add rock salt to taste and one pinch sugar,
beat until smooth.

Finally, mix yogurt and mango chunks and place it in the refrigerator, it should be served chilled with pinch of red chili powder.

Prep time: 00:10
| Cook time:
00:05
|
Total time: 00:15 | Yield: 2 servingsIngredients
Ingredients:
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Green Gaga
By Barnali Dutta,
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According to our forefathers this is the time at the end of the monsoons when people should start eating herbs in Bengal. I still wonder how much have we progressed or advanced or modernized from our forefathers. Man has left behind a wonde…